<p>Are the ACA rates and policies going to be the de facto rates for everybody? </p>
<p>I did not think I was going to use ACA.</p>
<p>Of course, I know people that are going to need ACA.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I doubt if ‘they’ get up of a morning and start scheming ways to kill small businesses.</p>
<p>The US healthcare system is broken, between dysfunctional and non-functional with a big overlay of corruption and price gouging. SOMETHING has to be done, step by step.</p>
<p>I think a lot of small businesses have been killed before they start because of the health costs and health care risks of leaving a ‘safe’ job to start out on your own.</p>
<p>nysmile – I too own a small business in NY and the rise in premiums has made us switch to a HSA. Our insurance broker said everyone has done that. It sounds like you have employees who have been with you for a long time and you’re concerned if you change your generous offer to pay their premiums, they might leave? Could you broach the subject with them, describe the HSA, and just tell them they now have to cover 25% of the premium? It’s not ideal, but it sounds like a real economic burden for you and your company. If it’s going to put you out of business, they won’t have jobs anyway.</p>
<p>I wish I had a better solution. Yes, it feels like they’re trying to put us out of business. I don’t think that’s the intent, but it isn’t making it any easier.</p>
<p>This is from Bloomberg, but you can use somemom’s link in #42 to take a look.
*Subsidies are expected to be available for the purchase of insurance on the federal and state-run insurance marketplaces scheduled to open Oct. 1 for coverage beginning Jan. 1, 2014. Individuals making up to about $45,000 and families of four making up to about $94,000 annually will be eligible for sliding-scale subsidies. *</p>
<p>Moderator’s note </p>
<p>Please post only if you have some useful information on the trends you are seeing due to changes in law and how someone can control their cost.</p>
<p>All other posts will be removed going forward.</p>
<p>I would really like to find an accurate site that shows how the costs will change for all of us.</p>
<p>^ what everyone is saying is: October.</p>
<p>sorghum, There aren’t a lot of “safe” jobs in small town America. We did not leave “safe” jobs to open a small business. Husband’s family has always been small business owners. He and his family grew up in a small business—polishing the produce and mopping the floors by the time the kids were 10 years old. When he was a kid, not many went off to college after graduating HS. He worked in the family business—a business which helped his community and was very respected. When they knew people couldn’t afford to pay for the groceries bought in their family market, they would wipe their “tab” clean. When a little kid would come into the store after school and steal something for a snack, rather than get yelled at, his father would pull the child aside and talk with him/her. He would let the “thief” work off the stolen item by doing some sort of little job in the store (empty the garbage, empty and stock a case or two of items, etc). When someone died and came in to order food for a family gathering, if they knew the family was having a hard time financially they would give them a huge break in the cost. This is small town America. Small businesses are more than a way to make money. We help people in the neighborhood the best we can.</p>
<p>His grandparents (immigrants) had small businesses. His parents had a small business. Husband eventually was able to buy his own small business. Again, he didn’t leave a “safe” business to own his own business.</p>
<p>Anyway, I just talked with him about making the decision for the upcoming year. He’s decided to suck it up for this one year, stay with our current plan with the increase, and re-evaluate for the future. Anyone who has a small business knows how hard it is to find good, reliable, honest workers and he’s not about to throw them under the bus.</p>
<p>While this increase will not literally break our business, it is obscene. He so wants to retire, but the thought of not having the business to pay our medical insurance is pushing his retirement further and further into the future. I guess it’s expected to work until you’re too old or too dead to enjoy any type of retirement.</p>
<p>regarding subsidies, Our workers are not at the poverty level. We live in a very expensive area and our income/expenses are skewed in relation to the rest of the country—High income compared to the majority of the country, but high living expenses counter it.</p>
<p>other posters have asked: Yes, we use an insurance broker who researches options and plans that fit the medical community in our area. We have to choose from plans that are accepted by the local doctors as well as the nearest major hospital so it limits our options.</p>
<p>I just spoke with someone at the NJ Department of Banking and Insurance. He was quite good at helping me navigate their website to find the info I somehow couldn’t find on my own. Long story short, as others are saying, details of 2014 will be coming out in October, so there’s no way to know what it will be. He did tell me that in my case, as an individual, I’ll likely benefit from being able to join in a group plan and get a lower premium. Hopefully he’s right.</p>
<p>Anyone in NJ looking for state-specific info and a person to talk to, the phone number is 609 292-7272.</p>
<p>A thought for small employers, would it be less expensive for your employees to have individual plans rather than tacked onto your plan? Perhaps instead of choosing and paying for their insurance, you can give them $ toward whatever plan they choose on their own. They may individually qualify for a lower cost plan, or a subsidy or whatever your state allows. Something along the lines of “we paid $X for your insurance in 2013, and we will give you $X+something so you can shop for your own insurance in 2014”.</p>
<p>^Our business pays for 2 individual plans (for our 2 full time employees) and one family plan (husband-owner).</p>
<p>We encountered an interesting tidbit with our plan.</p>
<p>We have a plan with a major employer. We have a kid turning 19 soon and a letter said that with the new law we no longer need to prove the kid is a student for healthcare coverage.</p>
<p>However, we need to prove full time student status for dental and vision since those are not covered under the 26 years and under provision.</p>
<p>My sister is disabled. Her husband lost his job and he is close to disabled himself so…when cobra runs out… They cant get insurance. ACA is their chance to get insurance. Dont know the costs though. We will fimd out in Oct.</p>
<p>I know people with epilepsy, cancer. They cant get insurance. What are they supposed to do? Some of these people cant work…</p>
<p>ACA is a mixed bag. Overall Health care costs during the last 4 years are rising at their slowest rate in decades. Some of this is attribitubal to ACA and some of it is because the economy is subpar.</p>
<p>Some states are going to help implement ACA and some arent so ACA is not going to be uniform throughout the US. </p>
<p>I was totally gouged by Blue Cross over the years. My rates went up so many times. My choices sere limited. Then Blue Cross was sued. I wasnt the only one gouged. Blue Cross settled. I was able to change plans and I save over 6,000 a year. I am satisfied with my plan. I am curious to see what happens in Oct.</p>
<p>The elimination of preexisting conditions is going to increase insurance costs. I know a lot of people dont care about the preexisting condition change, but you should. For those that end up with a condition, The elimination of preexisting conditions is huge.</p>
<p>"We have a plan with a major employer. We have a kid turning 19 soon a letter said that with the new law we no longer need to prove the kid is a student for healthcare coverage.</p>
<p>However, we need to prove full time student status for dental and vision since those are not covered under the 26 years and under provision."</p>
<p>This is one of the chores I have on my list to do, is to find out about this. My kid starts full time work in a couple of weeks, will have health insurance offered, but no way will it be as good as he’s got right now. I am really reluctant to call my health insurance company and ask if we can keep him on ours, because I fear it will instantly flag a letter to us demanding that we remove him from our insurance. Paranoia? Maybe. Maybe not.</p>
<p>nysmile (maybe your insurance broker already suggested this) but what our guy told us is that a lot of small businesses split the coverage for the owner’s family like this – I would be insured as married with children then we’d pay H a minimal salary and he’d be covered as an individual. Insurance-wise, it was cheaper than covering us under the family premium. We ended up not doing it because we weren’t sure we could commit to the increase in payroll and taxes.</p>
<p>The letter from James Hoffa of the Teamsters to Reid and Pelosi on the subject of the unintended consequences of the ACA is fascinating.</p>
<p>I think there is a big difference between people who continuously paid for insurance and got sick and those who never had insurance and then got sick.</p>
<p>I think the first group should be able to buy insurance at affordable prices, while the second group should not get a price break. I think it is a fair solution and would have been more cost effective then what is going to happen next year.</p>
<p>It is good that the new law took care of pre-existing conditions, but I think it is too generous for those who only want coverage when they are sick.</p>
<p>^class2015, I know what you’re saying. We ran the numbers as did the insurance broker.
Each and every time it came out cheaper for the family policy.</p>
<p>Our renewal date is right around the corner so we can’t sit around and wait to see what the changes are going to be.
Husband decided to keep our plan, pay the insane increase, and re-evaluate for the next time. We’re in the middle of our busy season so we’ll have more time over the winter to research options for the future.</p>
<p>Yes, zoosermom. It is extraordinary to me that they didn’t think this through in the first place. They just thought it was all going to be wonderful for their members, and they seem shocked that it isn’t. I sure wish this would be figured out soon so we don’t have such uncertainty. I can’t imagine how difficult it is for people who aren’t that fluent in technology and ways to search for different coverages, if people here on cc are having problems.</p>
<p>Lerkin, come on… Some people never bought insurance because they couldnt afford it. Some people gave up their insurance because they couldnt afford it.</p>
<p>ACA tries to make sure everybody has skin in the game. Even if you opt out there is a small cost.</p>
<p>NYSmile, how many insurance companies did you or your broker contact?</p>
<p>Another thing I wanted to mention is NY should ask her broker if their business is being “pooled” with other similar small business to determine the cost of insurance. This is how our small business premium is determined and it is cheaper then what we would have had to pay if we were priced by ourselves. Being in the pool with other small businesses spreads out the risk, thus lowering the cost.</p>